


(So kiss me) on this cold December night

by OnlySkyAboveMe



Series: Time is made from honey slow and sweet [3]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Baking, F/M, Fluff, Love, happiness, relationship progression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:03:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21834958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlySkyAboveMe/pseuds/OnlySkyAboveMe
Summary: December 20th, it’s a special day for many reasons.
Relationships: Scott Moir & Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir/Tessa Virtue
Series: Time is made from honey slow and sweet [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1546540
Comments: 35
Kudos: 123





	1. Tuesday 20 December 2016

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PurpleHazeGirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleHazeGirl/gifts).

> Moir’s Cake Shop was set in June 2016… who knew?! This first chapter is set later that year, when Tessa and Scott make cookies, memories, and perhaps a little more?

**Tuesday 20 December 2016**

“Sugar cookies?” Tessa asks with a raised eyebrow after Scott announces their evening activity. He grins at her through his last mouthful of grilled cheese sandwich and playfully nudges her shin with his big toe under the table. 

It’s five days until Christmas and she’s finally finished her shopping, having braved the mall (and the snow) one last time before the big day on her way home from work. On Thursday they’re heading to his parents’ house to spend the holiday with the extended Moir clan. 

The Moirs have welcomed her into their family with open arms and hearts, and Tessa has formed a particularly close relationship with Alma these past few months. They’ve bonded over everything; from Hall and Oates, to chocolate (Alma really does know the best suppliers), and a mutual love of dance and skating, having each taken part in both until they finished school and pursued their respective careers.

Scott was delighted when Tessa accepted his family’s invitation, and warned her how loud and crazy their celebrations get when all the cousins and kids are together. Honestly, Tessa cannot wait and is looking forward to a bit of a change from the relative formality of her own family’s Christmas traditions. They have accepted Kevin and Jenny’s invitation to join Kate and the Virtue siblings for New Year, their new house finally finished after all these months. Scott has even offered to bring treats as a housewarming slash New Year gift.

Hence the need to test-run the sugar cookies now, or so he says.

Everything is set out ready in their kitchen (it stopped being just her kitchen four months ago when he moved in). She grumbles about her inability to bake  _ anything  _ successfully as he slips an apron over her head, pressing a few kisses to her neck as he reaches around her to tie it at the back, patting her on the butt once when he’s finished. She pinches him just above his hip in retaliation and he nearly crumples to the floor with a high pitched shriek that has her laughing for several minutes.

Scott clears his throat pointedly, drawing Tessa’s attention back to the task at hand. She sighs and puts her hands on her hips, a look of reluctance in the face of defeat flashing across her features.

“I’m going to watch you like a hawk this time,” he explains, a look of determination on his face. He’s spent the past six months since they got together trying to help her bake something,  _ anything _ , successfully, but to no avail. It’s now seemingly become his sole mission in life.

He gets all up in her space as she follows his recipe for sugar cookies; if his hands aren't touching her somewhere then his breath is hot against her neck or ear. He double checks every weight, scoop and spoonful. He prods at her dough to approve its texture, sieves the flour carefully onto the surface, scrutinises the  _ two _ thermometers he's placed in the oven.

She thinks anyone else would be irritated, but she can only admire him in his pursuit of excellence (because mediocrity is not something that either of them are willing to accept!). And, for fuck's sake, she really wants these to work too!

Whilst the dough chills in the fridge for 30 minutes, they clean up (briefly) and make out (less briefly) when she corners him in the laundry room where he’s looking for the dish towels he washed earlier. They’re interrupted when the alarm on his phone sounds from his pocket, the vibration of it causing them both to groan in a mixture of frustration and heightened arousal. He lifts her down from where she’s sat atop the washing machine, stealing one last kiss before they return to the kitchen.

They both comment on the similarities between tonight and that fateful Friday in the Cake Shop back in June as he helps her to roll out the dough to an even thickness. They cut out a variety of snowflakes, stars and circles, planning to thread them with ribbons to hang on the tree. Scott has to intercept them at the last moment before Tessa puts them into the oven, remembering that they need to cut the hole for the ribbon before they’re baked. He carefully does so with the fine tip of a piping nozzle as Tessa looks on, chin resting in her hand.

Scott slides the cookies in the oven with a silent prayer, a tray of simple rectangles with scalloped edges going in too, ready to be used as cute place cards for the small dinner party they’re hosting for some of their friends here in the city tomorrow night.

The cookies bake in just a few short minutes, but Scott has to grab Tessa’s hand to calm her as well as to stop her from pacing past him for the twentieth time or sneaking a peek at the state of the treats through the glass of the oven door. They end up in a peaceful embrace, her standing between his legs as he sits on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. They both startle as the bell on the oven pings to tell them the cookies are ready.

“You get them,” she says, nervously. “I’m too scared to look.”

Scott chuckles. “Don’t worry, I have a good feeling about these.”

The bites at her lip anxiously as he pulls on the oven gloves and opens the door, stepping back a little from the cloud of heat that washes over him as he does so.

“Woohoo!” he calls out as he pulls the tray from the oven and carefully deposits it on the granite countertop next to the waiting cooling rack.

She peers over his shoulder as he inspects them. They look good; they’ve held their shape and are a lovely, even, golden colour. “Are they okay?”

“Nailed it, kiddo,” he cheers. “They’re perfect!” He turns and scoops her into his arms, whooping and hollering as she laughs into his neck.

She pulls back, eyes searching out his. “Thank you,” she says, softly, then leans in and kisses him.

“We should celebrate,” says Scott after they break apart, eyes on the bottle of red wine waiting on the counter.

“Good idea,” says Tessa, a little breathlessly.

“ _ Oof _ ,” Scott huffs out as Tessa jumps up and wraps her legs around his waist.

“Oh, I see,” he says, grinning mischievously and moving hands so they’re on her ass. “You want to  _ celebrate. _ ” He wiggles his eyebrows and she mirrors him.

“Any excuse,” she husks into his ear, and he groans before capturing her mouth once more, walking forwards carefully until he backs against the wall. Their kissing grows steadily deeper, tongues and teeth coming into play as they devour each other, needy little moans exchanged freely in the hot air between them.

He breaks the kiss once more, breathless, his hair mussed to perfection from where she had run her fingers through it. "We should make the frosting," he whispers, almost a little disappointed, eyes fluttering closed as Tessa continues to press kisses to the side of his face and neck, pulling at his hair now, causing his head to swim with blissful arousal.

"It can wait," she mumbles between kisses, then rolls her hips into his and groans at the feel of him through his sweatpants. "We have all the time in the world."

At that he lifts her away from the wall and carries her swiftly into the living room (because fucking in the kitchen is forever off the table) and deposits her on the couch somewhat unceremoniously before pulling off his henley and dropping it to the floor. She grins wickedly at him as she starts tossing the throw cushions out of the way, both of them giggling when one knocks over the wooden snowman that had been minding its own business on the side table.

They divest each other of their clothes swiftly, and soon Scott is above her as she lies on the couch, one of her feet propped up on the back of it. Their hands and mouths roam freely and desperately, as if starved of attention and release (which, in fairness, they have been, as he’s been working early and her late recently, and before that she was on her period).

"Have you got something?" she pants, clawing at his back as he sucks a nipple into his mouth.

"Upstairs in the nightstand," he responds, propping himself up on one hand so he's hovering over her. He cocks his head, "Shall I...?" He makes to move but she grabs his wrist to stop him. When he looks back at her she's clearly doing math in her head, eyes raised to the ceiling and flicking back and forth as she raises a few fingers.

She stops, then shrugs. "I think we're good," she says.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Now, get back here," she breathes, pulling his wrist with one hand and crooking a finger on the other. He smirks and shifts to lean over her again, only to yelp in surprise as she expertly flips them, craftily taking him in hand before his head even hits the couch cushions.

"God I love you," he says earnestly.

“I love you too,” she says, holding his gaze, unblinking, as she slowly sinks down onto him, smirking when his mouth drops open and his eyes flutter shut.

After several quiet moments of cuddling and catching their breath, they disentangle themselves and rise from the couch. Scott returns to the kitchen to begin the batch of royal icing, whilst Tessa visits the washroom, deciding eventually to pull on her Christmas onesie and a fluffy pair of socks. Scott gives her a look of soft affection as she returns to the kitchen. “You look cosy,” he says, kissing her cheek before handing her apron to her once again. He keeps an eye on the pillowy mound of glossy icing whirring around in his Maple Leaf blue Kitchen Aid as Tessa picks up her phone to play some music, then begins to divide the cookies by type between the cooling racks, the sound of Michael Bublé’s Christmas album filling the kitchen.

He shows her how to fill the piping bags, catching Tessa’s in time before she fills it without putting the piping tip in first. He wraps his arms around her as they hold onto the same bag so that he can demonstrate the pressure needed to pipe just simple dots, a subtle flick of the wrist as the bag is pulled away. She takes fairly well to this, happily piping dots of the icing onto the variously intricate snowflakes they baked, affixing pearly white dragées to some, whilst dipping others in a plate of sparkly sugar, both glistening and shining under the kitchen spotlights.

Scott then says he’s going to show her how to pipe straight lines. She gives him a look, one eyebrow raised, but the litany of profanities that fill the kitchen for the next 20 minutes as she attempts to form the long strands only to end up with a series of blobs makes him laugh out loud and give her an ‘I told you so’ look in return. Eventually they decide that they will leave straight lines to him, and he adds them to the final few snowflakes quickly, handing them to her to dip in the sparkles once more.

Next up are the place card cookies, but before they dive in on those, Scott insists on giving Tessa a lesson in piping the alphabet.

“We’re just piping straight onto the counter?” asks Tessa, cocking her head to one side.

“Yeah,” Scott replies. “It’s so much easier. Flat, even surface, easy clean up. At pastry school we even mixed colours into the icing on the surface.”

“Really?” she says, intrigued.

“Yep, like this.” Scott scoops a small amount of icing from the bowl, re-covering it with the damp dish towel afterwards to prevent it from crusting over. He reaches for the holly green colouring paste and with a toothpick adds a small blob to the crisp white icing. With a speed and rhythm all his own he begins to blend the colour into the frosting; scooping it up and over on itself, pressing it into the counter with the flat blade of the offset spatula, then scraping it all up and letting it all flop into one of the dozen parchment piping bags he’d rolled earlier. He folds the open end over neatly, before grabbing a pair of scissors and carefully makes two cuts in the pointed end of the bag. He turns the bag so it’s almost horizontal with the granite and pipes a single, perfect leaf.

“Wow!”

He looks quietly proud of himself, but blushes at her compliment all the same. He gets her set up with a small piping bag, and together they begin writing out the alphabet onto the granite countertop. Tessa has considerably more success with this task, not unsurprising given her beautiful penmanship; managing to write the letters straight and proportional to one another, with only a few minor mistakes when her pressure on the piping bag was wrong. Scott’s envious at her natural skill here; it took him months to master piping the alphabet to the required standard, and even struggles with it today (if anyone ever comes into the shop wanting the word ‘congratulations’ piped onto a cake he’s always swift to encourage a different sentiment).

They move quickly onto writing out whole words in cursive script, Scott demonstrating with his own name, then Tessa signing hers with a flourish. He concedes to her ability with a chuckle.

“Okay, you’ve definitely got this. How about you write the names and I pipe the borders?” he says.

“Sounds good,” says Tessa, reaching for the first cookie and slowly and carefully writing her own name on it before handing it to Scott to pipe a pretty border of small shells in festive red.

They work quietly side by side, both humming along to the music in the background. Whilst Tessa’s writing is proficient, it isn’t fast, so Scott finds himself watching her most of the time, smiling softly at the look of determination on her face and the way she sticks her tongue out in concentration. When they’re done he carefully arranges the eight place card cookies onto a tray and they take a step back to admire their handiwork.

“They look pretty good, don’t you think?” she asks, wrapping her arm around his waist, leaning into him when he hums in response and presses a kiss to her head. “What do we do with all the spares?”

“Have some fun?” Scott says, with such enthusiasm that Tessa tips her head back and laughs. She gives his waist a gentle pinch, drawing a small yelp of surprise from him, before stepping back up to the counter and picking up her piping bag once again.

Now that they have free reign, Scott sets about experimenting with some patterns, though still completes two or three cookies for every one that Tessa does. Eventually he sets about thinning and colouring some of the icing so that he can dip the round cookies into it to create a festive tye-dye effect that looks pretty good if he does say so himself.

After a moment, Tessa clears her throat and slides a cookie towards him, the words ‘Thank You’ piped on it. He huffs out a small laugh when he looks away from his own and sees it.

“You’re welcome,” he whispers, placing his tye-dye cookie on the rack to dry and reaches for one of the stars. He swiftly pipes around the outline with the yellow icing, then writes ‘I Love You’ in the centre and slides it towards her. It’s like they’re in middle school and are passing notes in class!

Tessa’s dazzling smile lights up her face before she mouths the sentiment back to him, returning to concentrate on her cookie which currently has just the word ‘Merry’ written on it, taking her time to write the second, longer word and add details around the edge.

Scott pauses for a moment, watching her intently. Tessa is many things; beautiful, smart, kind, funny, driven. She’s everything he could ever have wanted, and he thanks his lucky stars every day that she stumbled into his shop and eventually into his arms. She’s the love of his life. 

With his heart thudding in his chest, Scott takes the opportunity whilst she’s deep in concentration to quickly grab one of the larger circles they cut out and expertly pipes four simple words onto it. With half an eye on Tessa to make sure she’s still distracted he switches to the piping bag he made earlier and pipes some of the green leaves onto it, adding a couple of the pearly white dragées so that it looks like mistletoe, before finally piping a delicate border of red interlocking shells and putting it to one side to dry with the snowflakes, which are pretty much out of her line of sight.

Tessa sighs gently as she puts down her piping bag, wiggling her fingers a little before lifting up her cookie to show him.

“That’s so pretty,” exclaims Scott. “Good job, babe.”

“My hand is cramping up now,” she complains, slowly clenching and unclenching her fist. 

“Here, why don’t you thread ribbons through these?” He pushes the tray of now dry snowflakes towards her, his circular cookie in the middle. He waits with baited breath for her to spot it, and his heart soars when he hears her small gasp, head whipping over to look at him after she’s read what he piped on it.

_ Will you marry me? _

Scott’s heart thumps almost painfully as he watches Tessa’s face display a spectrum of emotions; shock, disbelief, understanding, then utter delight, grinning widely at him, eyes shining with tears. Relief floods him as she reaches for his hand and starts to nod her head earnestly.

“Yes,” she whispers, a tear already making its way down her cheek. Scott’s own eyes are wet as he reaches out to brush it away before pulling her close and kissing her softly on the lips. She lets out a delightful little chuckle as he hugs her tight and presses his face into her neck. They hold each other for a while, intermittently gripping each other tighter as it goes on and on, both letting out contented sighs and sniffing occasionally.

A short time later Tessa’s stomach growls. “Can we eat our cookies now?” she asks around a wet little hiccup. Scott sniffles a little as he steps back and Tessa’s fingers come up to brush away the tears that are falling down his cheeks. 

“I thought you’d never ask,” he responds, voice still thick with emotion, picking up the cookies they’d passed each other earlier and taking a bite. Tessa does the same and hums in approval as the buttery cookie melts in her mouth. She reaches for the ribbon he’d passed her earlier.

“I think we should put this one on the tree first, don’t you think?” she asks, picking up the proposal cookie and smiling at him.

“Definitely,” he says. “But, first, give me your hand.” He reaches out and takes her left hand, carefully wrapping a small piece of the thin silver ribbon around her ring finger and tying a little knot in the top. “I’m sorry it’s not a real ring; I intend on fixing that tomorrow. I just suddenly had this need to ask you, and although I hadn’t planned on asking you today, please know that I’ve been thinking about this for a little while.”

Tessa’s right hand comes up to caress his cheek. “That’s good,” she breathes, “Because I’ve been thinking about it too.”

“It’s not too soon?” he checks, hands still grasping tightly onto hers, sure he can feel royal icing sticking their fingers together.

“Not at all,” she says, softly. “Not with you.”

Nothing they do is too soon, despite what their families continue to say. They march to the beat of their own drum and the ticking of their own clock. They fell in love in less than a week, moved in together after two months and Scott proposed spontaneously after six. In another six months she’ll walk down the aisle towards him in a gorgeous ivory gown with an empire waistline that accommodates her growing baby bump; their unborn daughter the greatest and most unexpected Christmas present either of them could have hoped for.


	2. Wednesday 20 December 2017

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chocolate is the source of all happiness

**Wednesday 20 December 2017**

Four month old Lily Moir coos happily from her bouncy seat as she grabs at the plastic spatula Scott hands to her, grinning broadly at her father’s wide eyes and exaggerated expression. Her parents can tell she’s on the verge of laughter, but nothing they’ve said or done so far has elicited the noise from her.

“What did you this morning, cupcake?” asks Scott enthusiastically, as he expertly rolls up the chocolate génoise sponge he’s just carefully spread with chocolate buttercream. “Did you go to barre class with Mommy?”

“She sure did,” says Tessa, appearing behind him, her dark hair, recently cut into a practical bob, wet on her shoulders. He turns his head to kiss her swiftly in greeting, having forgone the gesture earlier when she and Lily first arrived back home (Tessa had complained that she smelled and that there was far too much sweat and milk in her bra for her liking, handing a waking Lily off to him with ease before making her way to the shower). “And you made lots of new friends, didn’t you sweetie?” Tessa leans forwards over the bouncy seat, taking Lily’s feet into her hands and rubbing their noses together.

“Did _ you _ enjoy it, babe?” asks Scott.

“Oh, so much!” she sighs. “I’d missed teaching, and having this one with me was such a treat. Sara said she can tweak the schedule a little when I go back to work in February so that it works for both the studio and me.”

“That’s brilliant,” Scott says, leaning in for another peck on the lips. “I’m so glad you’ll be able to continue.” He knows how happy it makes her, and the balance it provides her with. Plus, if she keeps teaching, he’ll keep getting a discount on the classes he goes to!

“What are you making?” Tessa asks, looking curiously at the rolled-up cake that Scott has now cut and arranged so that a smaller piece juts out from the side, and is covering with a generous layer of thick ganache, creating patterns in the surface with every sweep of his offset spatula.

“It’s a Bûche de Noël,” he explains as he carefully applies the frosting to the rounded ends of the cake. “A yule log. For the thing later.”

“Yum,” says Tessa, dipping her finger into the bowl of buttercream and bringing it to her mouth. “I can’t wait.”

They’re heading out in a bit for a mid-afternoon gathering with a few of the couples and babies from their prenatal classes before everyone starts travelling for the holidays. They’ve made friends for life through those classes, and both Tessa and Scott have admitted it was one of the best ways to make new, mutual friends as a couple, considering the speed at which their relationship progressed and the different professional circles they are a part of. Plus, all their children are the same age, and their parents’ first kids, so the adults can share all their successes, failures, questions and challenges with one another.

“It’ll be so lovely to see everyone,” says Tessa, still playing with Lily as Scott carefully transfers the yule log onto a shiny silver board and begins to adorn it with some of the holly leaves and berries he made earlier, finishing it off with a generous sprinkling of powdered sugar.

After he washes his hands he sidles up behind Tessa and wraps his arms around her. He pulls a few funny faces at Lily over her shoulder, at which the little girl smiles. Scott nuzzles his nose into the soft skin of Tessa’s neck, which smells of the baby soap they all now use after Lily had some trouble with dry and sensitive skin, and flare-ups of eczema.

“You know,” says Scott, softly, pressing his lips agonizingly light underneath Tessa’s ear and smirking at the way her whole body melts into him a fraction. “There is something special to celebrate today. It’s a year since…”

“... we got engaged,” finishes Tessa. She rolls her eyes lovingly, “You’re such a sap.” She rests her hands atop his where they’re joined over her stomach (which Tessa is delighted is now finally beginning to look more like it did a year or so ago).

Scott chuckles and squeezes her a little tighter. “Well, yes,” he concedes. “But it’s also the one year anniversary of this one being conceived.” He nods to their daughter, who is watching on innocently, still shaking the spatula in her hand.

Tessa lets out an exaggerated gasp of shock before reaching out and cupping her hands carefully over Lily’s tiny ears. “You can’t stay stuff like that in front of our impressionable little cupcake!” she hisses, failing to disguise the laughter in her voice.

Scott’s about to quip something back in his own defence when a brand new noise fills the air; a breathy, high-pitched chuckle that has both Tessa and Scott whipping their heads around to stare at their daughter. And the look of shock and surprise on Lily’s little face over the big noise that just came out of her mouth has them both giggling.

“Did you just laugh, cupcake?” Scott asks. Lily’s mouth straightens as she watches him, her bright eyes wide and curious. “Is Mommy being funny putting her hands on your ears like that?”

“Should Mommy do it again?” asks Tessa, reaching out to repeat the action from before, Scott’s eyes and mouth opening wide to try and encourage her along and set her off again. The sound falls from Lily’s lips once more; the most gorgeous, melodious giggle. 

In order to try and keep the laughter flowing, Scott dips his finger into the buttercream and smears it onto the end of Tessa’s nose. Tessa yelps in surprise, but then laughs big and loud from her belly, reaching up with her tongue to try and lick it off. Eventually she opts to use the back of her hands to transfer the chocolatey mess onto Scott’s cheek.

The yule log sits forgotten on the counter – and they’ll nearly forget it later when it comes time to leave – because all that matters in this moment is the joyous chorus of laughter filling the kitchen, and the abundance of love that it stemmed from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet today. Until next time!


	3. Thursday 20 December 2018

**Thursday 20 December 2018**

“Do you think the cookies are cold enough yet, cupcake?” Scott asks his daughter, carefully pressing the back of his finger to one of the stem ginger oatmeal cookies on the baking sheet.

“Cookie,” responds Lily, holding up her little ball of flour and water dough that she’s enjoyed prodding around her mixing bowl for the past 20 minutes.

“That’s right. Cookies for Mommy.”

“Mommy,” sighs Lily softly, still playing with her dough, but with a shy little smile on her face.

“Shall we go and see if she’s awake and take some for her?” he asks, holding his hands out. Lily raises her arms up and Scott lifts her from the seat that clips onto the breakfast bar, resting his daughter comfortably on his hip, her fingers coming immediately to toy with the strap of his navy blue apron.

Scott grabs an extra cooling rack from the drawer beneath the oven and a spatula from the pot by the stove. He’s overhauled the entire kitchen in the past year, streamlining all of Tessa’s ‘useful’ and ‘revolutionary’ utensils and gadgets, replacing a few with genuinely useful and functional ones of his own, but otherwise donating everything else.

Lily’s small hand rests atop his as she ‘helps’ him transfer the cookies to the cooling rack, Scott counting them out loud, Lily mimicking him after a fashion; sweet little whispers in his ear as she tests out the words.

He reaches for one of Lily’s bamboo bowls from the draining rack, dislodging the carefully stacked mountain of stainless steel and bamboo plates, bowls, spoons and sippy cups that he crafted earlier when she was napping.

“Shall we pick some to share with Mommy?” Scott asks. Lily nods her head. “Which ones shall we take?”

Lily points to a few of the cookies nearest to her and he places them in the dish. Scott sets the 16 month old down and hands her the bowl to take to her mother, and she licks her lips as she looks between him and the cookies, cheeky grin on her face.

“You can have one too, but we need to go into the living room first okay?” he explains, nodding his head until Lily copies him. “Good girl,” he says, kissing her on the crown of her head.

Scott walks slowly behind her as she toddles into the living room, a gentle hand at her back to catch her if she topples. Whilst their little one has been walking unaided since early September, she does have a tendency to get distracted by objects in her hands, particularly if they’re things that will taste yummy if you put them in your mouth!

Lily trots happily towards Tessa, who is lying on the couch and staring sleepily at the TV, watching Marilyn Denis chat about New Year’s Eve fashion. 

“Mommy,” Lily calls out. Her vocabulary is growing every day, new sounds and syllables tripping off her tongue, voice whisper soft as she repeats after her parents the best she can. Many words are still approximations, for example, when they prompt her to say thank you it comes out more as ‘doh du’, but they’re well-versed in Lily-speak by now. Nothing makes them happier, though, than the clarity with which she addresses to them; ‘Mommy’ and ‘Daddy’ spoken confidently and clearly every time, making their hearts sing. Tessa looks up at their daughter and smiles, eyes brightening, though her face is still a little pale.

Lily dashes over the last few steps to the couch, nearly knocking over the trash can near Tessa’s head, which is mercifully still empty. They had agreed that they wouldn’t use protection after Lily turned one and would ‘see what happens’. What happened is the set of fraternal twins currently in her uterus, who have made her life a misery since September, and are continuing to do so despite having recently moved into her second trimester. A diagnosis of hyperemesis gravidarum left Tessa signed-off work for the past two months, but they’re hopeful she can return part-time after Christmas.

“Cookies,” declares Lily as she holds the bowl out to Tessa. 

Tessa glances up at Scott. “They’re ginger and oatmeal,” he explains without her having to ask. Much to her distress, Tessa has been unable to stomach chocolate for the past three and a bit months – in fact, sugar in any form has been a struggle, which she knows has upset Scott greatly, quashing his natural inclination to bake to make others feel better. Tessa smiles and takes a cookie from the bowl, thanking Lily profusely as she props herself upright and pats the couch cushion next to her, signalling for Scott to join her for a cuddle. Lily seems happy on the floor, rummaging through the small stack of magazines on the coffee table, finally dislodging the one she wants but sending the rest of the pile flopping to the ground.

“Oh no!” she calls out, in the most melodramatic tone of voice that had sent Tessa and Scott into peals of uncontrollable laughter the first time she said it. She makes no move to pick up the fallen magazines, but instead sits down on the rug with her cookie and her reading material.

Lily does her best to shove the entire cookie in her mouth, munching noisily as she attempts to turn the pages of the (upside down) magazine with one hand, Tessa watching her, amused whilst she nibbles on her own slowly. In general, these days, she still feels rough in the morning, but finds that as long as she gets something to settle in her stomach she can go on with her afternoon as normal, whether that be doing some admin from home for the barre studio, wrapping Christmas presents, or collecting Lily from nursery. She phones into the office a few times a week to keep up-to-date on cases, but the firm has been very understanding and accommodating of her. Tessa is still undecided about what her current career will look like going forwards, seeing that by May (or, more likely, mid-April) she will have three children under three to contend with.

The little nursery school two blocks away has been a godsend in recent weeks, as have the handful of new staff Scott has recruited for the cake shops over the past six months. It’s meant that they’ve managed to keep things as normal as possible for Lily since Tessa fell pregnant again; especially with the extra check-ups and a short hospital stay for dehydration. They had been worried at first, about putting her in nursery full-time when she was still so young, but from what they can see it’s been great for her to have so many older children to look up to and learn from. She’s acquired speech and fine motor skills so quickly and seems to love her time there, constantly coming home singing nursery rhymes and with drawings and paintings that are now stuck to the fridge. They don’t regret it for themselves either; knowing that she is being cared for and thriving whilst they both spend their days working hard and doing the things they love (and growing babies, in Tessa’s case).

“Oh!” exclaims Tessa softly, sitting up a little straighter.

Out of habit, and by reflex, Scott grabs for the trash can and holds it in front of her. But Tessa shakes her head with a soft smile and brings her hand around to stroke the left side of her stomach.

“Hi there,” she says quietly, voice as full of wonder as it had been when she was pregnant with Lily.

“Can you feel one of them moving?” Scott asks, eyes lighting up as he puts the trash can back on the floor, fingers itching to reach out to join Tessa’s hand on her belly.

“I thought it was just my stomach rumbling earlier,” she explains. “But it’s definitely that magical fluttering… Oh, are you joining in too?” her other hand comes to rest nearer her belly button. “Wow, this is weirder with two of them. I dread to think what this is going to be like when they start to run out of room.” She grimaces as she looks up at him but then her face falls. “What’s wrong?”

Scott has tears running down his cheeks and Tessa quickly reaches out to wipe them away with her thumbs, then pulls him into a tight embrace. “Talk to me,” she whispers softly in his ear.

Scott sniffs and takes a steadying breath. “Sorry. I guess it’s just been a rough few months, seeing you so unwell. But I’m just so happy that you’re getting better now and that the babies are starting to move around.”

Tessa strokes his hair and hums under her breath. She knows how hard these past few months have been for him; having to totally run the home and do the majority of Lily’s care, as well as expanding into a third shop. He’s been under a lot of pressure, despite all the support they’ve received, and Tessa has been wondering how long it might take for it to be released in this way. She’s glad they’ve got a few weeks off over the Christmas period; Scott certainly needs it.

“Happy tears?” Tessa checks in with him. Scott huffs out a small laugh at the role reversal, that question having been frequently directed at her over the past year or so.

“Absolutely,” he replies. “The happiest.”

“Good, now eat your cookie. They’re delicious by the way.”

“Thanks,” says Scott raising his hand to finally bite into the cookie but stopping when he realises there’s just a tiny bit left between his fingers. “What the…?”

She and Scott turn their heads to look down at Lily, who is sitting on the floor at their feet and chewing away merrily, now reading a board book instead and growling like a lion as she lifts a flap to reveal the animal behind it.

“Sneaky little…” exclaims Scott in mock outrage. Tessa giggles as she twirls her finger around the tiny topknot that Scott has pulled Lily’s fine auburn hair into.

“She gets that from you!” they say in unison, then both fall about laughing. Scott gathers Tessa close to him and presses a kiss to the side of her head and she hums happily in response. Knowing that he would never do it himself without asking first, she picks up his hand and guides it to stroke gently at her belly, sighing contentedly and allowing her eyes to drift closed.

“Dissoo!” shouts Lily from the floor, brandishing her book and reaching up to try and climb onto the couch. Scott lifts her easily onto his lap and she leans back against his chest and hands the book over to Tessa.

“Shall we read ‘Dear Zoo’?” she asks, tucking herself under Scott’s arm and holding the book out in front of the three of them.

Lily nods and Tessa begins the story. She repeats it on Lily’s instruction, and after the third reading she looks over to see both her daughter and her husband fast asleep next to her, Lily curled into Scott, who cradles her instinctively, one hand at her back, his head drooped down and resting atop hers. Tessa carefully removes herself from the couch, tucks a blanket around them, and tiptoes into the kitchen where she tidies up whilst munching on more of the cookies, eventually putting them in a tin and hiding them, lest she devour them all. When she returns to the living room her family is still sleeping, Scott having shifted so he’s nearly horizontal on the couch, stomach to stomach with Lily, who is drooling into his chest, both of her loves snoring softly.


	4. Friday 20 December 2019

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wishing Nicole a very Happy Birthday!!

**Friday 20 December 2019**

The kitchen is chaos, but the best kind. 

Christmas music is blaring from the bluetooth speaker with Scott singing slightly off-key, whilst Lily wiggles her body in a little dance where she sits on the counter, tapping her spoon against the side of a bowl of royal icing, sneakily shoving smarties into her mouth even though she knows she’s being watched. Scott thought that the gingerbread house might be a bit of a stretch for their daughter, but she managed to help dump ingredients into the mixer, and to roll out some of the leftover dough and create a variety of lumpy trees and stars with the plastic cutters she’d received for her birthday from her Uncle Charlie.

Aaron and Ethan are adding to the noise from their highchairs, the two eight-month-olds banging their hands on the trays so hard that the crumbs from their post-nap snacks fly into the air with every thwack. Scott sincerely hopes that Tessa shut the door to her office, but he knows she understands that keeping the children occupied doesn’t go hand-in-hand with keeping them quiet!

As if sensing her presence – because lord knows he cannot hear anything over the noise – Scott turns right as Tessa appears in the doorway, a peaceful, contented smile on her face.

“Mommy!” calls Lily across the kitchen, reaching out with her sticky fingers and making grabby-hands at her mother as she enters the room. Tessa’s glasses are perched on her head, keeping her dark hair off her face, and she’s wearing a holey Moir’s Cake Shop t-shirt over a pair of soft cotton yoga tights with a pair of fluffy pink socks on her feet.

Tessa runs her fingers through their daughter’s recently cut shorter hair, and dips her head to allow Lily to feed her a smartie, laughing off Scott’s protests of thievery before giving him a peck on the lips and surreptitiously pinching his bum.

“Kiss, Mommy!” Lily demands, urgently, trying to scramble to her feet on top of the counter, both Tessa and Scott reaching out to stop and steady her.

“Hey, no standing on tables, please,” Tessa says, firmly. Lily nods in understanding and Tessa puckers her lips and receives a wet kiss there before Lily hugs her tightly around the neck and they stay like that in a long embrace as Tessa peppers the side of her head with lots of kisses.

“Did you finish your paperwork?” Scott asks her, nimbly sliding the bowl of candy out of Lily’s reach as she sits back down on the counter and makes to continue eating them. Their daughter growls a little in frustration, and with a sigh Scott wets and wrings out a cloth, handing it to Lily and distracting her by asking her to clean up the counter.

“Yep,” says Tessa happily, reaching for the broken point of a gingerbread star from the cooling rack and popping it into her mouth with a glance at him. Scott smirks. “Remind me not to be a mom to three kids under three and submit four MBA applications in two weeks ever again!”

Scott chuckles. “Duly noted. But something tells me you won’t be needing to apply again, babe.” He wraps an arm around her and pulls her close into his side, pressing his lips to her hair and murmuring, “I’m so proud of you.”

In the end, it was an easy decision for Tessa, to leave the legal world and join the Moir family business. Sure, she probably could have started ‘Virtue and Partners’ in a few years, but the thought of having  _ their _ name above a fourth, fifth, or beyond shop in the coming years brought her more joy. It also brought flexibility, autonomy, a platform to be creative, and the opportunity to forge something that might, hopefully, stay in this family for generations. This was a new challenge she was more than ready to sink her teeth into; sure that with the wonderful support of her family she could successfully complete her part-time MBA, help the business grow, and still be the committed and present mom she wanted to be

The hectic, joyous expansion of their personal and family lives over the past three years can barely hold a candle to the way business has boomed in that time as well. A pair of Instagram stories from Jordan and Charlie showing off the gorgeous four-tier cake Scott made for his and Tessa’s wedding gave the shop more advertising than they ever could have afforded, bringing in orders from around the country and further afield. 

(Soon after the wedding, Tessa and Scott themselves got their own 15 minutes of fame, with the press getting a kick out of the siblings of two of Canada’s biggest sports stars getting married – just the sort of lighthearted, good news story people needed in the summer of 2017. That was fun for a little while, but neither were interested in fame, nor bringing closer scrutiny to their siblings’ private lives, and they were glad when the offers of interviews and photoshoots petered out – they cautiously accepted just one during that time, putting the money aside for their children’s future.)

Since then, they’ve opened a new shop further downtown, a pop-up in Union Station, and a café – teaming up with Scott’s friend Patrick Chan, who is considered one of Canada’s top baristas and an authority on quality coffee. The business needs a trained business mind behind it, now, as it moves into the future, and both Scott and Alma jumped at the idea of having Tessa come on board.

As Scott and Lily add the finishing touches to the gingerbread house, Tessa gets her fidgety boys started on a craft task her sister-in-law suggested. She had jumped for joy at the idea of no-mess finger painting, and is watching on, amused, as Ethan prods at the blobs of paint on the card inside the zip-lock bag on his tray, giggling with delight as the bright red and green paints swirl beneath his chubby fist. Meanwhile, Aaron, who is just coming off a nasty cold, is staring at the item in front of him, lower lip wobbling as he reaches out for Tessa.

“It’s okay, sweet boy,” Tessa reassures him, voice soft and with a gentle hand on his warm back. “Can you see Ethan doing it?” she points to his brother and Aaron follows her finger, still looking unsure. “Should Mommy help?” She presses her finger to one of the blobs of paint, and ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as it spreads a little on the page. “Aaron try it?” She takes his hand and brings it to the page so that he can do it as well, and soon her youngest’s hands are swirling excitedly all over the top of the bag, babbling in delight as the colours mix into one another.

In the end, the twins make two fairly brown cards – which Tessa decides she will add some glitter to later – and she carefully hangs them to dry in the laundry room, ready to be given to the grandparents on Christmas Day. When she returns to the kitchen the lights have been dimmed, and Scott has moved the gingerbread house to the centre of the table and is placing a couple of battery-operated tea lights inside it, illuminating the ‘stained glass’ windows.

“Oh, it’s so pretty!” exclaims Tessa, wrapping her arms around Lily, who is standing on one of the dining chairs and watching on in amazement. “Didn’t you and Daddy do a good job?”

“Eat it now?” Lily asks, and Tessa laughs.

“Let’s wait a bit,” suggests Scott. “But, we can have some of the gingerbread cookies you cut out instead. Is that okay?” Lily nods emphatically. “On your bottom then, please,” he instructs as he heads towards the plate of cookies on the counter. Lily complies, sinking down to sit on the chair and swinging her legs excitedly. Scott hands her one of the holly leaves, then breaks a star in half for the boys to share. He offers Tessa one but she declines.

“Dance with me first,” she says, quietly, holding out her hands to him. The music has switched to Nat King Cole’s ‘The Christmas Song’ and Scott swiftly pulls her into his arms, swaying from side to side for a bit before twirling her around and dipping her low, pressing a soft kiss to her lips as she giggles. 

Lily claps when the song ends, causing them both to blush, then she is requesting to dance when the music switches to Elton John. Scott scoops her up and zooms around the room with her, their laughter almost as loud as the music. Ethan is still munching happily on his cookie and swinging his legs to the music, but Aaron is reaching for Tessa again, so she lifts him from the highchair and sets him standing on the floor between her legs, his little hands clasping onto her index fingers as he shifts his weight around experimentally, Tessa keeping him upright each time his knees go from under him.

Before long, Ethan is in Scott’s arms as well, laughing with his sister as she takes his hands and helps him to wave them around. Tessa turns her head to watch them, smiling so wide it makes her face hurt, until a small shriek of delight has her turning back to look at Aaron. 

Who is no longer holding onto her fingers.

And is standing – albeit with legs quivering – unaided.

“Scott!” she hisses out of the corner of her mouth so as not to startle her son. “Quick, look!” She notices him freeze in her peripheral vision before he shuffles quietly towards them as Tessa crouches down to Aaron’s level, just in time to break his fall as he drops down to his bottom.

“Oh my goodness, Aaron!” exclaims Tessa, scooping up her youngest and peppering his face with kisses. “Aren’t you so clever? Did you see what Aaron did, Daddy?” She looks up at Scott with wide eyes, his own expression matching hers; disbelief and fear underneath the shock and pride, the realisation dawning on him as well that soon there’ll be three very mobile children running around their house. 

This time next year their new house  _ will _ be full of kids running everywhere as they throw a holiday party for their friends and family. In two years, Scott will be halfway up a ladder, proudly hanging Tessa’s MBA certificate on the wall alongside Lily’s junior kindergarten photo and a picture of the whole family in their jerseys at Charlie’s final game for the Leafs. In five years they’ll make a gingerbread house again, though they’ll actually end up with a gingerbread village, and will discover that Ethan seems to have the same natural talent as his father. In eight years Alma will spend one of the first days of her retirement from her 15 shop empire with her grandchildren, helping them to make a welcome home cake for their parents; Tessa and Scott having been in the Bahamas, belatedly celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary. They’ll be met at the door with tight hugs, sweet-smelling breath and sticky fingers, and they’ll hover in the doorways of their childrens’ bedrooms later that night, watching them sleep, peaceful and happy.

This date has become special, almost sacred, to them through the years; it’s a day of love, of family, of creativity, of fun, of gratitude, of laughter, of moments big and small. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks C and T for all your support with writing this. Safe to say that I will not be trying to finish a fic during my last week of work ever again!!

**Author's Note:**

> Until tomorrow!
> 
> Thank you to my lovely 'redemption' gals, C and T for their support, ideas, and edits on this xxx


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